Fleet size and profitability
Page 21
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THE Economic Research Centre of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport publishes occasional studies on wider transport issues. Its most recent report, Optimum Structure and Size of Road Haulage Firms, points out that in all European countries road haulage is characterized by a very large number of firms with a small average size; in some countries as much as 70 or 80 per cent of the firms have only one lorry.
There are, of course, medium-sized and large firms, some with several hundreds of lorries, but the large fleets tend to be the exception to the rule.
Against this, there is evidence that firms are becoming large over a period of time. The cost studies show that there is no economy of scale but neither is their any diseconomy of scale — or firms would not grow.
The report suggests that the influence of demand on the structure and organization of the road haulage industry is often neglected.
"The varied nature of demand implies that there is a place for firms of all sizes. There are, however, some factors which seem to work in favour of larger firms, for instance the trend towards larger units and concen tration on the demand side, the increased tendencies among shippers to buy transport in large quantities and on long terms, and to include storage, distribution and other ancillary transport services."
The report (ECMT Round Table No 23) costs £1 and is obtainable from H MSO or from Publications Dept OECD, 2, rue Andre-Pascal, 75775 Paris Cedex 16.